It wasn’t too bad for an enlisted guy. We lived in the barracks, and had a chow hall to eat in, a PX and Commissary to shop at. Even gasoline was at stateside prices iirc. So we were insulated from the sticker shock of Hawaiian Punch prices on everything.
We weren’t insulated from Hurricane Iniki however. At one point somebody decided we could get all our helicopters at Schofield in our Hangar. Folding blades back, and tail booms. I was skeptical, but we did it. There wasn’t any room to walk but it got done. Huge pain in the ass.
At one point, everything was done, nothing more to prepare. The sky turned ominous and they cut everyone loose, the married guys back home to their families. Single guys just hung out in the barracks and waited for everything to roll in. Kind of sobering.
I always wanted to spend a year there. Kaiser Permanente. Problem is it’s changed. Time to, as I wrote before, return to the monarchy. Watch the left have a cow.